Legal Filings – Legal Center for Nonprofits, Inc.

Annual Filings! Many nonprofit organizations have a calendar year fiscal year. If your organization is one of these, it's time to think about required annual filings to the Internal Revenue Service (Form 990/990-EZ/990-N), and to the Charities Division of the MA Attorney General's Office (Form PC), if your organization is a charity. Go here for Form PC information. Go here for IRS annual filing info. Failure to file annually with IRS for 3 consecutive years results in automatic revocation of tax-exempt status. If your organization did not file an Annual Report with the Secretary of the Commonwealth by the November 1st due date, you can and should still do so. The form available here is very simple, and the filing fee is only $15. Failure to file these Annual Reports for two consecutive years can result in revocation of your organization's corporate status. While corporate status can be revived, it's expensive, and includes filing all missing Annual Reports, at $15 each. MA Dept of Revenue If your nonprofit organization is a corporation, it must register with the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. This is where charities apply to document exempt status from state corporate tax, as well as to apply for exemption from Massachusetts sales and use taxes. Organizations with staff will use the online portal for payroll tax filings. Registration is entirely online, and you must provide an EIN (employer ID number) and your organization's name must match the name on the EIN and on the Determination Letter. At the conclusion of the online registration, you will be provided a fax number to which you should submit your organization's IRS tax-exempt status Determination Letter, and within a few weeks, you will receive the ST-2 certificate. Present the ST-2 certificate when making organizational purchases to show that your organization is exempt from sales tax. Go here to register with MA DOR (Webfile for Business). New Programs! And finally, don't miss our new programs! Check our Program page for the latest additions.